Cormyr Essay, Research Paper

I chose this particular book mainly because of the authors. I have read previous books written by them and I liked their works. Another thing that caught my attention was the size of the book. I have never read anything larger than 300 pages.

The name of this book is called Cormyr, the book was called this because it is the entire the history and present happenings of Cormyr. Cormyr sticks to a general plot that highlights many problems that eventually “spell the end of Cormyr”. The book tells a story in the present and at the same time constantly reflects the history that got them there. I would not suggest a different title, the title reflects accurately what the book is about.

In the story of Cormyr, the author conveys over and over how history always seems to repeats itself. I believe the authors’ purpose in writing this book was to explain a theory in an entertaining fashion. I do not know much more about the author except that my brother told me that Ed Greenwood writes good stories.

The story takes place between –400 DR and 1369 DR. I know this because the heading of all the chapters have a date included. For reference –400 DR could be compared to our Bronze age and 1369 DR would be compared to our Medieval era. The story of Cormyr takes place on a magical continent called Toril. Cormyr is located towards the center of the land near a fairly large body of water called the Sea of Swords. I know this because many battles take place along the Sea of Swords. The story setting is very effective for those who read this kind of material. Cormyr is a magical land based on a system of kingdoms, fiefdoms, and ancient battles. The feeling that the author creates would not be the same if the setting had been anywhere else. For example, if her had tried a oriental setting, the same system of government would not apply and many of the characters would not be able to act the same without changing the atmosphere of the story.

The main characters in Cormyr are Baureble, King Azoun IV, Vangerdahast, Princess Tanalasta, Aunadar Bleth. Baureble is the founding wizard of Cormyr, he is the first to settle the land and the first to make peace with the elves. Azoun IV, the king of Cormyr, is a lesser character in the story because he appears infrequently. Azoun seems to be one of the only characters that does really change throughout the story. Vangerdahast is Azoun’s advisor and rules when the King is away. He is always loyal to the Crown, but later in the book wants to be king. Tanalasta is the princess of Cormyr, but is not ready for rulership because she is too frightened to take on the reigns of rulership. Throughout the book Tanalasta becomes more and more dependent on Anudar Bleth. Eventually, she realizes her susceptibility to other peoples’ commands and decides to change so that one day she may be ready to rule. Anudar Bleth seems to be a kind person. Later the reader finds out Anudar is treacherous to the crown and has been inducing Princess Tanalasta to get information.

All of the characters are developed nicely and are very much to my liking. My favorite character would be Vangerdahast because of his “scheming” against the crown. Actually he is scheming against those unfaithful to the crown. None of the above characters tell this story, though they could have told it and still have gotten the point across. Cormyr is told by a 3rd person omniscient viewer that describes each character’s perspectives very well.

The story begins with a wandering wizard who is captured by tribe of cannibals. Before he was cannibalized, a group of elves attack and destroy the cannibals. The elves spare the wizard’s life believing that he is not one of the savages that were obliterating the forest homeland. The wizard, Baureble, introduced himself and begged to be taken in by the elves. After some convincing, the elves took him in as their own.

Baureble soon became a respected figure among the elves. As humans began to settle in the area, Baureble made peace with them and told the settlers what they must do be welcomed by the elves in the forest. A few groups of humans emerged from their farms and united to become a nation. Later, the land became governed by a wise man known as Azoun and befriended Baureble. With his new friend Baureble, Azoun raised a kingdom united under him. With each generation from Azoun’s family, the country became larger and more powerfulWizards who descended from the powerful wizard Baurable also guided each generation of Kings. Each generation faced some type of realm shaking tribulation and each time, the kingdom became stronger.

In 1369 DR, King Azoun IV became very ill fighting some type of clockwork beast. During this, Vangerdahast tricked the unfaithful into being openly unfaithful therefore when the King was better, he could do justice to the land. Along with the unfaithful was the noble of blood, Anudar Bleth. Anudar used his charms to get nearer to the throne and used the princess for secret information. In the end, Anudar and the unfaithful were rooted out by decree of the recovered King and the princess found what she lacked in character.

I think that this book was a very good book and that the writing style was very interesting. The thing that I thought was interesting was how the author weaved what happened in the past with the present. The present day characters also seemed to tie in with people from the past, even their punishments seemed quite similar. I think the medieval setting and the intricate plot helped create a sense of realism. The ending is indescribable, everything comes together in one chapter. The reader find out which people were innocent and which people were unloyal. There is nothing in this book that I would have changed because it was very interesting.